A Lesson In Hair Care And Man Buns From The Leading Pitchers In Baseball

You’ve got to admit, if people legitimately started calling you “Thor” because you had long hair, you wouldn’t cut yours either. In fact, New York Mets pitchers Noah Syndergaard (aka the aforementioned Thor) and Jacob DeGrom have been known for their exquisite locks almost as much as the baseball players have been known for striking out batters. The duo is part of a pitching rotation that led the Mets to the 2016 World Series and one that many consider the best group of young hurdlers in baseball.

But their hair is always a part of the conversation and they both admit they never get tired of answering questions. Both Syndergaard and DeGrom are the get-up-and-go kind of dudes. They’re not primping and priming in the morning. And that’s what makes them perfect pitchmen for Axe, whose evolution as a brand includes accepting the young guy who’s not carving out 30 minutes out for styling.

“We do take pride in how we look but it’s really just like, take a couple minutes and you’re ready to go,” DeGrom said.

“I really like using the softening cream, it helps me go out there with confidence to do what I need to do an at the same time it’s very functional and helps keep the hair out of my mouth so I can focus on pitching.”

And that’s the main thing. The primary concern is keeping their damn hair out of their faces. Actually, it makes perfect sense. Syndergaard and DeGrom haven’t been the kind of guys to fall into the trapping of trying to maintain a metropolitan ideal of urban chic. They’re ball players. Mostly all that hair will be tucked firmly under a baseball cap, or slicked back into a flowing tussle of manly-locks.

“I just try to keep it nice and clean,” DeGrom said. “I probably got a haircut about two months ago.”

And not that that was a major ordeal either. DeGrom’s gets his haircuts from his sister, who used to be a hair stylist. And he didn’t even cut it at all last year.

“She just cuts it like this,” he said rolling his fingers through. “This is just how she does it and she knows how to do it.”

As far as a go-to style, Syndergaard defers to a man bun when the team is traveling. It’s easier. Never mind that the man bun is wearing out it’s welcome in style circles.

“I wouldn’t know,” said Syndergaard, who at 6-foot-6, with a fastball that frequently breaches 100mph, does actually resemble The Mighty Thor.

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Thor is still searching for a steady stylist, but he did recently get a trim at John Allan’s barbershop in Manhattan. Syndergaard even epically trolled Mets faithful by pretending to chop off his Sampson hair on Instagram back in January. The subsequent freak out was indeed real.